Description
Alpine French Speed & Spirit
This definitive limited edition Palawan Press book will be the first ever English language history of all the Alpine cars to the present day. The rise, fall and rebirth of the brand was long denied to British buyers due to legal rights over the name.
Once known as the little blue cars from Dieppe, Alpine now stands on the brink of a global era of all-electric sporting cars, bolstered by an extensive motorsport campaign. Created by Jean Rédélé in 1955, and set to mark its 70th birthday in 2025, the time is right for a new literary celebration of this very French marque.
Author Russell Hayes delves deep into the Alpine saga, with historical research brought to life by fresh interviews with key figures from its past and present. Striking new photography from photo shoots in France and England complements the evocative archival images.
Born from Jean Rédélé’s sporting exploits in Renault’s tiny but nimble 4CV, the glass fibre-bodied Alpine A106 exploited the 4CV’s powertrain to the full, evolving into the A108 coupé and convertible and the lesser known four-seaters the A108 2+2 then the GT4. All are covered before the beautiful A110 Berlinette of 1962 to 1977, always Renault-powered.
Alpine was part of the French motorsport landscape in the 1960s and 1970s, flying the flag at the Le Mans 24-hour race, from the backstreets of Dieppe, to outright victory with Renault in 1978. The reader will find the story here, which also includes the lesser-known single-seat racing cars that became a connecting line to today’s Formula 1 team.
The famous rallying A110 Berlinettes were featherweight plastic bodied-rear-engine projectiles, expertly driven by all- French teams, waging a David and Goliath battle against larger, more established factory teams such as Porsche and Lancia. The struggle paid off when Alpine won the 1973 World Rally Championship.
Returning to the road cars, the 1970s saw the realisation of Jean Rédélé’s dream of a sophisticated four-seat coupé the A310, built in a brand new factory in Dieppe. The development of the A310 then the A310 V6 is charted, as well as the Renault 5 Alpine and the Renault 5 Turbo, honed by the hands of Alpine engineers. The book also covers the GTA V6 and Turbo (the first right-hand drive Alpines), the A610, the never-produced project W71 and the Dieppe-built Renault Sport Spider.
Palawan’s Alpine history culminates in an in-depth account of the revival of Alpine and the development of the modern A110. From new interviews with the designers, engineers and managers who lived through it, the reader is taken through Renault’s experiments with concept cars, the turmoil of the Caterham joint venture and the triumph of the 2016 A110 and developments up to 2024.
Publication date 15th November 2024.
Reviews:
FOR ALL OF HIS CRITICS – and there are many, certainly with his former company Stellantis – Carlos Tavares does deserve due credit for revitalising the Alpine brand. After all, the same sheer ‘determination’ that led to his downfall at Stellantis and Renault ultimately bore fruit in the A110. In many ways it follows on from the incomparable drive of Alpine founder Jean Rédélé himself. Using humble ingredients but with added dedication to lightness and highly knowledgeable tweaking, sports car excellence ensued. Pretty soon these little marvels attracted the attention of Renault, and soon after Alpines were taking on the world’s best in rallying and racing. They were winning too – and in doing so, they became the flag-bearer for not only Renault, but for France in general. For all the motorsport success and well-regarded road cars, there have been few books on Alpine, certainly in English, so Russell Hayes’ 496-page dedication to the brand is welcome. As befits a Palawan production, the design and materials are exemplary. However, it’s the text that is most impressive; Hayes mixes the wider narrative and the engineering nous perfectly, with pleasing detail on diversions such as the Brazilian and Bulgarian takes on Alpine. There is also the tumultuous tale of the brand in endurance racing, one that fizzled out after much promise. It’s rallying for which Alpine is best known, though, and it is only right that a large chunk of the book is dedicated to the A110’s remarkable 12-year tenure at the very top of the sport. This tome also covers the car’s V6 follow-up, the A310 and Alpine’s work on the Renault 5 variants, plus the 1970’s Le Mans efforts – but the most satisfying section talks about the GTA and A610 of the 1980’s and 90’s. Great cars that, while critically lauded, failed to find their feet with customers outside of home turf. So, with countless books on the Porsche 911, it’s a treat to get such an in-depth take on a series of cars that always deserved better sales. Yet it is the forbidden fruit that provides the most exciting reading, from Project W71 to the twin-turbo A610. However, the tide was turning, and Renault Sport as an entity was more important. The book’s ninth chapter brings the story back to Alpine, charting the redevelopment of the brand, and the short-lived tie-in with Caterham. Again, the detail is impressive, with the politics within Renault and with Caterham’s Tony Fernandes proving to be engrossing. The Alpine story continues to be written; the two new electric models and Le Mans racers form the tail-end of the book, alongside a profile of single-seaters. Just 500 standard editions are being printed at £400 a pop, and 50 leatherbound editions at £1000. Not cheap, but Palawan productions are single-minded passion projects that don’t disappoint. Very much like Alpines themselves…Nathan Chadwick, Magneto, Autumn 2025
There is abundant literature, published primarily in French on Alpine, but in recent months an excellent book, written and published in English has been added. Accomplished by the likeable Russell Hayes for Palawan Press, this 6kg, 496 page tome, titled Alpine French Speed & Spirit, fills a definite gap for our English speaking friends eager to better understand the magic of cars “born in Dieppe.” Aiming to provide an exhaustive overview of the brand, the book naturally begins with the A106 and Jean Rédélé, ending nine chapters later with the return of the ‘A’ arrow on the new A110 range. The entire production process and involvement in racing is detailed, sometimes with a touch of humour. The author has collected numerous testimonies from former Alpine employees and French specialists of the brand, and the iconography is rich. The undeniable qualities of printing, binding and presentation justify the cost of the book, limited to 500 copies of the standard edition, priced at £400 and 50 copies of the leather edition, priced at £1000 reserved for bibliophiles…”A must” in any case – Jean-Luc Fornier, Millie Miles Magazine France, April/May 2025
What better way to mark Alpine’s 70th than a sumptuous book? Surprisingly, it has taken an English publisher to produce a definitive history of the Gallic legend. Over 496 pages with 400 images, Alpine French Speed & Spirit, this stylish title charts the ups and downs of the Dieppe marque, from Jean Rédél’s beginnings with 4CVs to the A110 rebirth. Author Russell Hayes’ research includes interviews with many key figures, which from stylist Peter Stevens’ nostalgic foreword bring the story to life. Being fluent in French, Hayes’ visits to Dieppe were rewarded with memories, unpublished photographs and styling sketches. Welcome driving impressions from contemporary road tests include Paul Frère who took a new A310 on his skiing holiday. Alpine’s colourful motorsport history is also covered, including Jean-Claude Andruet’s comeback charge after a puncture on the 1973 Rallye Monte-Carlo and aero testing an A442 prototype on a closed autoroute. As well as chapters on all the models and prototypes, the final appendix covers Alpine single-seaters from 1963274. Just 500 of the standard edition will be offered, so dig deep before it sells out – Mick Walsh, C&SC, March 2025
In all the hoo-hah since the revitalisation of the Alpine marque with the new A110 in 2017, it’s been largely forgotten that it was originally a joint project with British sports car maker Caterham. The idea was that each company would offer its own version of the car: Alpine’s was codenamed AS1 and Caterham’s was C120, the latter intended to make inroads into the profitable Asian market and built as a hatchback rather than as a booted coupé like the Alpine. A further British connection was the use of nine Lotus Exige-based test mules for the early Alpine prototypes. As we now know, despite getting quite far along the development track, Caterham’s involvement ceased well before the A110 was launched. It’s a fascinating story, told in detail in this massive, near-500-page tome – but it’s just a tiny fraction of the entire history of Alpine recounted here. While there have been numerous French-language books published about Alpine, this is the first properly comprehensive work in English. Palawan Press has done its usual immaculate job, with the aid of uber-cool designer (and Octane contributor) Julian Balme. Only 500 of the standard slipcase edition’s will be printed, plus 50 of the leather-bound version. The first 25 people to buy the latter will pay £1000; late-comers for the remaining 25 will have to stump up £1500. Aside from its exceptional design, this is a conventionally laid-out volume. It starts with a brief introduction to Alpine founder Jean Rédélé before taking you on a chronological tour through the marque’s road and racing models, from the very first hotted-up Renault 4CVs through to the latest A290 electric city car. It’s a remarkably long list and author Russell Hayes valiantly attempts to include every possible Alpine-related model – you will read about the stillborn mid-engined W71 coupé of the early 1990s, which got as far as a running prototype that covered 20,000km of testing before Renault canned it – but you will still be left wanting more. For example, it would be interesting to know whether any of the late- 1960s Bulgarian-built A110s, which get a brief mention, survive today. This is far from a stuffy history, however, and includes some great personal anecdotes – such as car designer Peter Stevens recalling how he found the ideal tail-lights for his M100 Lotus Elan: ‘There was a TV show called Howard’s Way and this fellow had a GTA. I was watching this one evening and I thought “Cor, I think those lights might work in the back of the Elan.” The rest, as they say, is history. Peppered with a fabulous collection of period images, many of them in colour – no padding with modern-day ‘happy snaps here – this book is sure to become a treasured possession for its lucky purchasers, long after the price is forgotten – Mark Dixon, Octane, March 2025
In our house, new books arrive regularly around Christmas and my January birthday, so it has taken me a few weeks to digest Russell Hayes’ 500-page masterwork for Palawan Press on the design, production and racing history of Alpine. This volume has at least 1000 photographs, most of which I’ve never seen before. So rich is Alpine’s 70-year history, and so compelling the story of its founder, Jean Rédélé, that my old strawberry tart swelled at the thought of my own A110, ready in the garage. The book also made it clear in my mind that Alpine’s owners must guard its future carefully. Hayes’ book costs a solid £400, or you can pay £1000-plus for a leather-bound copy, but the superb writing and research make it literally the best means of getting close to a wonderful marque – Steve Cropley, Autocar, January 2025